The prince longs for me every night after mastering thought-reading-Chapter 34 - Awakened
Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Awakened
Chapter 34 -34: Awakened
Xiao Jinyan and the Empress’s gazes simultaneously turned to Shen Chuwei.
The Empress’s questioning voice arose, “What do you mean?”
Feeling somewhat guilty, Shen Chuwei said, “Your Majesty, please wait a moment, this concubine will return shortly.”
Without waiting for the Empress’s permission, Shen Chuwei slipped away and dashed out.
Once outside, Shen Chuwei asked the palace maid if she had found the glass cup, and then she took the glass cup to fetch water.
Pretending to fetch water was a ruse; the main goal was to prevent others from seeing how she retrieved Spiritual Spring Water from her space.
The Spiritual Spring Water could neutralize all poisons.
She habitually took Spiritual Spring Water to brew tea as a precautionary measure, just to be safe!
Shen Chuwei also didn’t know why Xiao Jinyu had been poisoned, or what kind of poison it was — or whether it was caused by some other reason, but drinking Spiritual Spring Water couldn’t hurt.
After acquiring the Spiritual Spring Water and to avoid suspicion, she placed two chrysanthemums inside before finally carrying the glass cup back to the room.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the room was still tense.
Shen Chuwei approached the Empress with the glass cup in hand and continued to explain, “Your Majesty, this concubine has seen patients with similar symptoms to the seventh prince, and they recovered after drinking this.”
Seeing that the glass cup contained chrysanthemum tea, the Empress felt Shen Fengyi was lying, “You mean to say, drinking chrysanthemum tea cured it?”
Shen Chuwei nodded firmly, “It’s an old remedy this concubine saw when I was young, and there’s more than just chrysanthemums in it.
Your Majesty can give it a try.”
Bluffing was Shen Chuwei’s forte, and right now, the most crucial thing wasn’t identifying the poisoner, but clearing Xiao Jinyan of suspicion, so it was vital for Xiao Jinyu to wake up safe and sound.
Xiao Jinyan noticed the two chrysanthemums and was unsure of what Shen Chuwei was thinking; but since there was a way to save her brother, they should give it a try.
“Mother, saving my brother is what’s most important now.”
The Empress, seeing her son’s faint breath and fearing he would stop breathing at any second, looked again at the Crown Prince and Shen Fengyi, then issued a harsh threat.
“If this method is useless, I’ll hold you accountable.”
Shen Chuwei felt she was in a difficult situation; even if the method didn’t work, she would still be held responsible.
The Empress took the glass cup from Shen Chuwei’s hand and rushed to the bedside, holding the cup in one hand while attempting to prop up her son with the other.
“Mother, allow me,” Xiao Jinyan said, stepping forward to sit at the head of the bed, extending his long arm to support his brother, making it easier for the Empress to administer the medicine.
The Empress, glancing at the Crown Prince, swallowed her dissatisfaction and, with Xiao Jinyan’s help, fed Xiao Jinyu the chrysanthemum tea.
After the commotion, they finally managed to feed the chrysanthemum tea to Xiao Jinyu.
Once finished, everyone’s gazes fixed on him.
As time ticked by, just when the Empress was growing impatient and ready to assign blame, Xiao Jinyu coughed a few times and slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing her son awaken, the Empress wept with joy, “Yuyu, you’re finally awake, you scared your mother to death.”
Xiao Jinyan, seeing his brother wake up, finally let out a sigh of relief.
Xiao Jinyan, noticing the Empress crying her eyes out, felt a bit distressed, “Mother, I’m fine now.
It was just a severe stomach pain earlier.”
His voice was harsh and hoarse as he spoke.
The Empress wiped her tears with a handkerchief, “It’s all those useless doctors’ fault, claiming you were poisoned beyond salvation.
I will have them severely punished later.”
Xiao Jinyu looked up to see Xiao Jinyan and noticed blood was flowing from his right side of the forehead, his tone urgent, “Brother, how did you get injured on your head?”
Xiao Jinyan touched the wound on his forehead, and his fingers came away with sticky blood.
He looked up at the Empress.
The Empress guiltily lowered her eyes.
Xiao Jinyan looked away, speaking with an unaffected ease, “I accidentally bumped it.
Rest more.”
Then, he stood up and bowed to the Empress, “Mother, your son takes his leave.”
After speaking, he left the Qiancheng Hall without looking back.
Seeing that the situation was resolved, Shen Chuwei turned and followed Xiao Jinyan’s pace.
The Empress was wiping her son’s forehead with a wet towel, still frightened by the scene that had just unfolded, grateful that her son was unharmed, otherwise, she really didn’t know what she would have done.
It was already the wee hours of the morning, and the vast Imperial Palace was shrouded in darkness.
Xiao Jinyan walked ahead in silence.
Shen Chuwei followed at a calm and steady pace.
It wasn’t until they reached a crossroad that they saw a path to the right leading to Xiyun Pavilion, while the left led to the Crown Prince’s chamber, highlighting just how remote Xiyun Pavilion was.
Xiao Jinyan suddenly stopped and, without turning his head, said to Shen Chuwei, “I won’t go to Xiyun Pavilion.
You go back and rest first.”
Having said that, he walked towards his own chamber at a brisk pace.
Eunuch Liu nodded at Shen Chuwei, then hurried to catch up.
Shen Chuwei stood still, watching Xiao Jinyan’s departing figure, sighed, and turned back to Xiyun Pavilion.
Xiao Jinyan returned to his chamber and had Eunuch Liu tend to his wound.
After the wound was taken care of, he dismissed everyone.
In the room, only a single palace lantern was lit, casting a faint light.
Xiao Jinyan recalled the incident in the Qiancheng Hall.
The Empress had cared so much for Xiao Jinyu, and that same intensity translated into her hatred for him.
If there had been a sword next to her at that moment, she probably wouldn’t have hesitated to swing it at him.
Wordlessly, he gazed out at the pitch-dark night, not a trace of sleepiness in him.
Chun Xi, having heard about the events of the previous night, knew that danger lurked everywhere in the palace, and so anxious was she that she hardly slept at all, all thanks to the palace strife.
Shen Chuwei slept until she woke naturally and saw Chun Xi with dark circles under her eyes, somewhat puzzled, “You didn’t sleep well last night?”
“Isn’t that the truth?
My lord, you don’t know, your servant dreamt about engaging in palace intrigue all night, I was just about to defeat my rival when I woke up,” yawned Chun Xi.
Shen Chuwei took a sip of her lean meat porridge, “Chun Xi, instead of spending time on palace intrigue, it would be better to explore gourmet food.
People take food as their prime want, being well-fed and watered is stronger than anything else.”
Miss a meal, and you will feel panic.
Never heard of getting restless for not engaging in palace intrigue for a day.
Chun Xi came to a conclusion after some pondering, “My lord, there was something wrong with the grilled lamb last night.
After diligently studying the scripts of palace dramas, I have concluded that someone must have intended to harm you, and by a twist of fate, harmed the seventh prince instead.”
Shen Chuwei gave Chun Xi a reassuring smile, lowered her head, took a sip of porridge, and then ate another bun.
Chun Xi looked at Shen Chuwei, who was eagerly eating, and shook her head helplessly, It looked like the palace intrigue was still up to her to handle.
After finishing her breakfast, Shen Chuwei lay down on the soft couch, leaning against a window sill, eyeing the cured meat hanging under the eaves.
Despite having just eaten, she felt a bit peckish again.
At that moment, Eunuch Liu hurried into Xiyun Pavilion.
“Miss Shen, His Highness summons you,” he said.
Shen Chuwei, who was lying on the couch to catch up on some sleep, had just closed her eyes when she heard Eunuch Liu’s summon.
She reluctantly got up and followed Eunuch Liu to the Crown Prince’s chamber.
She approached and greeted him with a bow, “Your Highness, may you be forever blessed with peace and safety.”
Xiao Jinyan, who had not slept the entire night, had been thinking over the events several times and identified several points of suspicion, which is why he had Eunuch Liu call for Shen Chuwei.
“Sit down and talk,” he said.
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Shen Chuwei said, lifting her skirt to take a seat, raised her eyes to look at Xiao Jinyan, whose forehead wound was already treated and wrapped in gauze, adding a certain sickly beauty to his appearance.
Xiao Jinyan got straight to the point, “You said last night that Jinyu was having an attack; what exactly is his illness?”
